How big is the U.K. again? Not the commonwealth mind you, just the island. If you think Wales is another country compared to, oh I dunno, Cornwall, You should visit Seattle, San Diego, Houston, Miami, Washington D.C. Boston, Buffalo, and Chicago...and Minneapolis-St.Paul for kicks. Keeps a rather large country like this from having a civil war every century.

If you want to think about it in a physical sense, it makes the U.S. a softer material legally speaking, able to bend and flex without shattering. Iwas about to start rambling on about a analogy to the bulk modulus of a solid but I think I'll just leave it at that.